Ripper for seams or the like



Sept. 16, 1952 B P. ADAMS ET AL 2,610,399

RIPPER FOR SEAMS OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 4. 1950 fax 5172271 5 fimzceP/laazns, L/bSjDk Palm (7/? (Q Mao/@ 072 fiza vp by 9?? f H21 5 operation thereof.

Patented Sept. 16, 1952 UNITED invention relates to improvements in rippers, and has as its principal objects to pro-' vide an improved ripper having a'protected cutting blade which may be used for various ripping operations, such as ripping seams, removing but- ..A further object'offour' invention is to provide asimplified and improved form of ripper having a protected. reoessedcutting edge with a relatively thin tooth-like probe extending therefrom-for insertion between the members to beripped, and

guarding against cutting of. the material being ES PATENT l OFFICE;

. 2,610,399 7 i v 1' I amputat on ,sEAMs on THE that Bruce P. Adams; Evanston, Joseph Palma, Jr.,

;-Berwyn,land James Gordon 'Knap'p,iLombard,

' rlll.,"assignors to Pelouze Manufacturing Company; Evanston, 111., a corporation of-Illinois Application February 4, 19 5 0, Serial No. 142,474 1 2 Claims. (01. 30-286) ripped during insertion of the ripper and during t i of our invention is to provide A further object a new and improved form o f;rippe1-nhavinga probing tooth extendingfrom a guarded recess and; having a cuttingblade extending therealong withinthis recess and arranged at a most efficientv anglefor cutting or ripping and to give maximum protectionito the fingers of the operator'of the-rip er and the material worked upon.

7 {A stilliurther objectof our invention is to provide anovel seam ripper including a relatively flat. short gripping member of a disk-like form; with a probing tooth extending along. and projecting from: one 1 edge thereof and a a; proj ec tin ii a id. edsa d. p ob n tee h and :ex-

tending in the same general direction as said I2 is tapered t "Figure 5 is-a view showing the ripper iniopera= tiontoopen anenvelop'e; and r :F- 1-;

is an enlarged fragmentaryviewun Figure 6 side elevation illustrating several possible efii' cient cutting angles uttingtbladeo the Referring now to the drawings, ourimpr ved form of ripper, as shown therein,incl'udes' gen erally a gripping member lfl herein shownds being of adisk-like Torin with pposite pficave sides, enabling the member to Ibe ."fiiflifly" gripped by the fingers of the operator, A- ho 1e l l is shown as extending through the center of "the and serves'as a ihe fisiff i .rnountihgfthe ri-p er on a (card for displaj purposes 1 The memb it may, be made from any suitable materia ay preferably e m dt 'fimi fq w wn r s, utterin -P s ray b lnol e v om me l-Q An i t s ali oo hel ke n ie t n I2 much like theitooth of a comhis-h as extending tan ia ly rQm 41 the; ripping member 1| 0. [The tooth-like member Aw r an n atf t et s ,6 provide j a probing point which may be 'inser ed between two pieces of cloth tightly sewedtog'eth'er blade.

tooth, and with the adjacent. face ofgsaid tooth forming a guardedblade receiving recess, having cutting: blade. iim d e th e nd r n tooth at asteeper angle than the an le oftheadjacentedge of saidtooth .EThes andother objects of our invention appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds andwith reference toyfthe ac;

companying drawings whereinz;

- i 'Figl-lle, 3 is a fragmentary sectional View taken substantially along line III-i-IIIOfiFElll 2}:

for. ripping the thread therebetween without cut ting. or marrin g-the cloths The tooth lil 'r'e elem: her [2 may also readily be insertedfund'e 4 sealed flap or an envelope, iorfopeninggthe'en e r; v r sf th l kep fidses: A.

or u'g 14 e ends "ironitlie the; sanie general direc' l2 and;is spaced therefrom, .but is co sider abl y' shorter'than; said toothll el membeigfs n w gua'rdf'the o'iittin'g n the'ripper.1-;-,' I'he edge'oiitheguard or lug 1 4" cent the tooth l Z'is hereinshownj as beiri gclined inwardly toward the periphery ot the disk l0 andif extended would intersect an u er-edge [5 of the tooth-like memberflfl, said i nwardly' inclinedledgesof said lug withsaidjupp r' ed'ge l5 of said tooth-like member forms 'a guarded recess l6 for a cutting blade [1,

'=%The cutting blade ll is tion as theitoot cutting edge ofs'razor'.like sharpness and" may razor blades now on --,=F.'igure 4 is a fragmentarysectional view taken substantially along line IVL-QIV oil-Figur 3 ;.x-:-;':l

be cut from one of the, many; forms as ray the market. As shown'in Figures 2, 3 and 4,, the blade IIfis molded in the tooth-like member 12 and in a projecting part l9 of the gripping member lfl,"which. has the tooth-likefmember l2 and thejguard j lpro ect ing therefrom; .The blade I] ,omerges into'" the upper-edge l5 ef the tooth [25in anaIh I or limit operation of wardly of the forward end of said tooth. While the blade I! is shown as being molded in the part [9 and the tooth-like member [2, it is, of course, obvious that said blade may be secured in other ways and may be detachably mounted if desired.

The anglesor the. cutting edge of; the blade [.1 with respect to the upper edge [5 of the toothlike member I2, into which said blade merges should be such that the blade is fully protectdiw;

by the guard M at all times, so -thatritpcannot cut the fingers during operation ofthe'ripper' or when reaching for theripperi'n a:.zseWing,-; basket, and will not cut the go'odsibein ripped: during operation of the ripper-and whenrinserting the tooth-like member l2in aseams In Figure 6, we show several possiblencriticalw limits of the angle of the cutting edge of the blade I! with respect to a line T drawn-:parallel to a line drawn tangent-to the periphery of the gflppmgimember sl 0 and: alongezthedower edge'oi the tooth-like member +2: In-this:figure; the anglelofz zfliz represented by; brokenlinewA; has bEEni-fdfinduby i experiment tobe the -minimum practical: angle of the cutting; edge of'the. blade I1 that may be used without exposing theiblade tortherextent that the fingers are likely; to be cut-:thereby; on-without unduly lengthening the guard-1t; The angle of 35 represented-bybroken lineaBzihasibeen found to-be the-maximum angle at whichathe. cutting edge of the blade: may be set-rtobut'efficiently andwhileitheripper may cut whemtheblade isset at an angle-ofslightly more than 35f,'thelangleunderno circumstanoesshould be Qastgreat as 409'. The: angle: representedby brokentlinecfi however, has been zfound 'to be the mostrefflcient. angle-n for all. around. cutting and-ripping; and may be in a..neighborhood of 30, although a variation ofo..a. iewdegrecs over, on -underzthe. 30 setting. .oflthe. .bladeil ias' little any fiecton the eneration.ofjlthe'blade. inimumlangle of theicuttii'igj edge 'o'f'fthe lJ isrthus.determinedjby the, amount of eirposure of the-bladeipermissible', without sub: :the fingersitofthe. liability. o'fbei'ng, .cut and. without I-necessitrtihg. the extension of j the guard l ly-to.- such an extent. that it iw'illhi-nder operation ofthe ripper.. "I'lieima'xiinum angle'is determined by. -the. angle..the. blade.- willicutlwitha outmlogg ing-or"tearing" It shouldehere be notedl that the projecting. tooth-dike member. [2 serves as-a probe it"o bring theqblade; into position between Jt'wio pi'eces"of' sewedpclothrtovrip thelseam or position the knitiemndenthefiapof an. envelope to open the envelope .a:nd= with thev periphery. of. the diskjl'll also-determinesthe angular position of the blade. during cutting, r assuring. that the cutting angle thereof=-- willlfno t'. too. fl'a't to -cut2effici'entl'y,"as may be. clearly seenlw'ith reference to Figure'if i I-'he=pro,iectii-ig guard. I 4'-likewi'se limits the steep= nessbfptlic angle .oi the. cutting edge oftheblade duringcoperation of the 'rip'penmaking it difficult toKr-ip .whileholdirig. thefbl'ade i'n aiposition "where it will 'clog,- providdTthej blade" is initially set at-the-lproper angle. I I t It- 'houldl'further b'e,.-noted"that the blade I 1 is:.-1'-ecessed. within the outer limits of the toothllke memb'er 'IZiand'. thati'the 'projecting'p'ortion It intonwhich the tbOthI-like member ii -and guard-fllllmerge serves. to spreadand hold-the material apart during the ripping operation, alicwin me blade to :perform its-normal cutting iunction withoutinterference from-the nateri'al L fin, ripping fth'e .thread" sewing two pieces oicloth together, the sharpp'robi'ng end oi -th'e 4 tooth-like member l2 may be inserted in the seam between the pieces of cloth. This toothlike member is sufliciently thin that it may readily do this without injury to the cloth. This operation is effected by gripping opposite sides of the disk I0 with the fingers and inserting the toothlike member-1'2'betweerrqthe twoipieces :of cloth either directly or with a twistingaction, depending upon how tight the cloth is sewed. The ripper may then be positioned in the most convenient manner .to. cut. the threads and drawn along the seam: ripping'the thread as it passes therealong, the natural directiontbeing toward the operator. During:; the." ripping or cutting operation, the

tooth -like lmemberr I2 and the enlarged portion I S s read and'ilie'ep the material being ripped orcutspreadapart, and the guard l4 protects the goods andfingers of the operator.

It'should here be understood that since the gripping member In is-of a circular form, with the blade-.1 1 extending from the periphery thereof, the ripper. mayibel operated asremciently while. being-pushed: away from. the. operator as being pulled toward .the operator, and frnay also be operated-with theuleftwhand ...as...welL. asthe right hand with nochange inthe manjnerot operation thereof."

It will. be understood thatpmodi'fications and variations may, be effected without departing from the scopeof the novel conceptsof' the .pres.-.

ent invention.

We claim" as1our' invention: w 1. In airipper; a.relativelyflaticirculardiska like gripping member formed of a'moldablema terial and having an integral tooth-likemember extending from its -perpihery in; a directicn substantially'tangent-ia-l thereto and taperingtoward it'send-"ina spreading probingpoint for ready insertion forripping; and i also having a guarding projection" extending in the same-general 'd irec ti'oir as said tooth-likemember in" vertically spaced relation. with" respect theerto= and sub-- stantially shorter than said tooth-like-memb'er; the; adjacent edges of said guarding projection and said 'tooth -l-ike'member converging inwardlytoward each other and the space between-said edges forming aguarded blade receiving recess having a" cutting blade extending across said recess and-'molded in said recess and molded in said tooth-like member andv guarding projectionand terminatingatits outerend in said tooth likemember outside of the margins of said guarding projection, the cutti-ng'edge of said blade being'in'cli'ned at an angle to a line drawn tangent to th'eperiphery'of saiddisk andiextende ing-along the outer=edge of said tooth-like'memher, said angle being 'not 'lessthan 20 and not more than 35- 'and merging into an adjacent edge of -said tooth-like member;

2. In a ripper; a substantially circular disk-like gripping memberhaving opposite concave side walls, enabling ready gripping thereof by either hand, an integral tooth-like member projecting from the periphery- 0f said gripping member-in a direction substantiallytangential thereto, said tooth-like" member'itapering toward its end to a relatively sharp spreading point forpro'bing andv insertion ina seam for ripping, saidgripping member also-having a guarding projectionformed integrally therewith and pr ojecting' therefrom adjacent but space'd fromsaidtooth like memberfand terminating short'of the-end of said tooth-likeimember, the adjacent edges of-"said" guard and .saidlItoothJ-like member converging inwardly said gripping: member and: the:

space between the adjacent edges of said guard and tooth-like member forming a guarded recess having a cutting blade extending, across said recess, said blade being secured in and merging into said tooth-like member at a greater angle of inclination than the angle of inclination of the adjacent edge of said tooth-like member and sufiiciently in advance of said guarding projection to readily rip the seam without interference from said projection, and the angle of the cutting edge of said blade with respect to a horizontal line parallel to a line drawn tangent to the periphery of said gripping member and extending along the outer edge of said tooth-like member being approximately 30.

" BRUCE P. ADAMS.

JOSEPH PALMA, JR.

1 J. GORDON KNAPP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,728,619 Lambert Sept. 1'7, 1929 1,898,747 Schacht Feb. 21, 1933 2,380,855 Lower July 31, 1945 2,439,639 Tilly Apr. 13, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 225,802 Switzerland July 16, 1943 

